If you believe what the media tells you, you probably think masculine guys are lion-hearted beefcakes who exude overwhelming confidence, have marathon sex, and are uninterested in intellectual pursuits (other than masterminding the best Fantasy Football team of all time, of course).

In truth, at some point society’s view of “manliness” took a surreal turn. That’s why we’ve taken a look at some common myths about macho men — and flat-out debunked them.

Myth No. 1: Guys Think About Sex Every Seven Seconds

The typical man has an insatiable appetite for sex and almost never stops thinking about it, right? Wrong.

A recent Ohio State University study of 283 college students found that men think about sex about 18 times a day (compared to 10 times a day for women) — but that’s not nearly as much as they thought about food and sleep. So much for always having sex on the brain.

Myth No. 2: Macho Men Don’t Have Erection Problems

You may never see George Clooney starring in a movie about a man with erectile dysfunction. But here’s the reality: Erection problems are much more common than many people realize. In fact, the National Institutes of Health estimates that erectile dysfunction strikes as many as 30 million men in the United States.

“Many men have sexual problems, and as a urologist, I see sexual difficulty of all ages and from all types of men,” says Marc H. Siegelbaum, MD, chief of urology and medical director of the Urologic Oncology Institute at the St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore. “Since almost all of sexual dysfunction is physical or physiological in nature, this has nothing to do with their manliness but rather underlying medical issues.”

Myth No. 3: Real Men Don’t Get Depressed

Depression is often considered a woman’s disease, but with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimating that nearly 6 million U.S. men have depression each year, it’s clear this mental health condition has no gender bias.

And an extra dose of machoness doesn’t make a man immune. “We see depression resulting in many men for lots of different reasons,” says Dr. Siegelbaum. “It may have to do with stressful events in their lives like job difficulty or job loss, marriage difficulty, difficulties with their children, or financial difficulties. Clearly, all of these scenarios can affect just about any man of any type, and hence depression is very prevalent and fairly common.”

What makes this myth so dangerous? Because of the stigma around male depression, many men stay hush-hush about their condition and are less likely to seek treatment.

Myth No. 4: Museums Are Girly

Think all men would happily trade a day at the museum for a night at the ballgame? A recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health of more than 50,000 women and men showed that people who participated in more cultural activities had better overall health and less anxiety and depression. In fact, “cultured” men were particularly receptive to the mood-boosting benefits of intellectual pursuits.

Myth No. 5: Men Should Be Sexual Conquistadors

Another urban legend about he-men: Their obsession with sex leads them on “sexual conquest” missions, in which they attempt to bed many women.

Actually, a recent survey of more than 27,000 men found that only 1 to 3 percent of them considered sexual conquests to be a contributing factor to their masculinity. This compared to 33 percent of participants who deemed “honor” to be the No. 1 factor.

“I think that probably is more of an issue in their teens and 20s and becomes much less of an issue in their 30s and 40s,” says Siegelbaum.

Myth No. 6: Marathon Sex Is a Must

When macho men make their sexual conquests, it lasts for hours and hours — right?

Nah. Surveys suggest that the average sex session lasts somewhere between three and 10 minutes. “Marathon sex is not common, although younger men who have higher testosterone levels and higher sex drives can generally engage in sex for longer than older men can,” says Siegelbaum. “I think that is somewhat of an age-dependent issue.”

Myth No. 7: Manly Men Are “Bigger”

When it comes to sexual health, that old myth about penis size and women’s satisfaction has been around for ages. But Drogo Montague, MD, director of the Center for Genitourinary Reconstruction in the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, says it’s time to put an end to it.

“The need for a certain measurement for penile length in order to please a woman is a common myth in American society,” he says. “The myth is that bigger is better, but we have found that is often not true from the woman’s perspective.” He adds that some men may have a type of body dysmorphia — a condition that involves obsessing about an imaginary physical defect — in which they become visually fixated on their penis and its size. In such a case, he says, "it is important to see a specialist who is familiar with some of the psychological factors involved.”